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Just In: Court Fines FG N200, 000 For Seeking Firvolous Adjournment Over Sowore’s Trial

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The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, February 12, fined the Federal Government the sum of N200,000 for causing an adjournment of the trial of Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, on frivolous grounds.

Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu who described the prosecution’s request for the adjournment as frivolous and uncalled for, postponed the trial till Thursday.

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Punch reports that she warned that the proceedings would not continue if the prosecution fails to present evidence of the payment of the N200,000 to the defence or come to court with the cash on Thursday.

READ ALSO: Anxiety Over Missing Travellers In Ondo Community

She condemned the late filing of amended charges and service of same on defence in the open court on Wednesday.

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The judge also expressed dissatisfaction with the prosecution’s failure to serve all necessary documents as ordered by the court over seven weeks ago.

The prosecuting counsel, Mr. Kayode Alilu, from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, had explained to the court that the amendment of the charges followed the taking over of the case from the Department of State Service in December.

READ ALSO: Edo 2020: Obaseki Second Term Is Non-negotiable-Group

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He asked for an adjournment to effect the service on the defence.

Defence lawyer, Mr. Olayinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), contended that the prosecution were not prepared for trial and urged the court to strike out the charges.

He said the prosecution’s request for an adjournment was frivolous and an indication of their lack of diligence in the prosecution of the case.

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But Alilu opposed the application for the striking out of the charges.

READ ALSO: Use FoI Act To Hold Govt Accountable, Nigerians Urged

He cited Section 396 (5) of Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2011 which he said grants parties in a criminal case to ask for an adjournment up to five times in the course of the trial, adding that the prosecution had yet to exhaust the five times.

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(PUNCH)

PHOTO: File

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Fake LASTMA Officer Jailed Two Years

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The Lagos State Special Offences (Mobile) Court sitting at Bolade, Oshodi on Monday, 27 March, 2023 sentenced a fake Lagos State Traffic Management Authority Officer, Omotutu Bamidele, to a 2- year jail term for impersonating and extorting money from motorists across Lagos.

The convicted fake LASTMA officer was arraigned by LASTMA on a 2-count charge of impersonating as a public officer by claiming to be a staff of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (S.78 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015)” and obtaining money by fraudulent trick (Sec. 323 of the Criminal Law, Lagos State) before the court.

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The PUNCH reports that Bamidele was arrested a few days ago on Olu Holloway Road, around the Alfred Rewane area of Ikoyi by a LASTMA Monitoring/Surveillance team led by the Zonal Head, Ashafa Moyosore.

In a press statement released by the Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of LASTMA, Mr. Adebayo Taofiq said Magistrate Kehinde Ogundare sentenced Omotutu Bamidele to a 2-year jail term without any option of fine after he pleaded guilty to the 2- count charges levelled against him.

Magistrate Ogundare emphasized that the convict should serve the jail term without any option fine due to the gravity of the offences committed.

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READ ALSO: We Make N35,000 Daily, Fake LASTMA Officer Confesses

The Court Prosecutor Barr. Olufemi Adekunle stated that both offences levied against the convict contravened Criminal Law of Lagos State (2015).

In his reaction to the judgement, the General Manager of LASTMA Mr Bolaji Oreagba said the judgement was a welcome development as it would serve as a deterrent to others who are still extorting money from innocent members of the public under false pretence.

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Oreagba also noted that the “Our (LASTMA) Monitoring and Surveillance Unit which has now been fully restructured would continue to hunt for other bad elements disturbing the peace of the society”

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Ahmed Musa Equals Zidane’s Record, Surpasses Viera, Lampard

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Super Eagles captain, Ahmed Musa, has become the most capped Nigerian player after his appearance in the second leg of Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Guinea-Bissau.

The Nigerian national team defeated the Djurtus of Guinea-Bissau 1-0 at the Estadio 24 de Setembro.

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However, Musa, who made his Eagles debut in 2010, and was also part of the 2013 Nations Cup-winning side, earned 108 caps – setting a new record for Nigeria.

With his feat, he has equaled France’s midfielder Zinedine Zidane, German’s Jurgen Klinsmann, and England’s Tim Cahill’s 108 national caps.

READ ALSO: Jump King! Osimhen Breaks Ronaldo’s Serie A Record

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Also, the 30-year-old Super Eagles captain surpassed Patrick Vieira’s 107 international caps for France, and Frank Lampard’s 106 caps for the Three Lions of England.

Since his debut, the Nigerian forward has scored 16 goals for the national team. He is Nigeria’s highest scorer in the World Cup with four goals.

He also has 92 club goals and 65 assists.

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NGO Trains Delta Community On Tools For Environmental Justice

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The Connected Advocacy, a Benin-based NGO, on Monday trained the residents of Owa/Alidinma community in Agbor, Delta State, on strengthening local movement and demand spaces for environmental justice.

The training featured sessions on environmental monitoring, smart advocacy tools for environmental justice and how to build a non-violent environmental justice movement.

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The Director of the NGO, Mr Israel Orekha, said the capacity building was aimed to enable local communities to advocate for and demand freedom from pollution, environmental degradation and exploitation.

READ ALSO: Pollution: Respect For Human, Environmental Rights Take Centre Stage As NGO Organises Capacity Building In Delta Community

Orekha said the training was due to the impact of oil exploration in the community, which include crises, environmental degradation, diversion of monetary benefits, intimidation from the traditional rulers and non-compliance with environmental multilateral agreements, among others.

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“The imperative of smart advocacy tools for environmental justice are evidence-based collective efforts or strategies targeting decision-makers and polluters.

“The training focuses on influencing the actions, programmes and policies of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) and governments toward environmentally friendly interventions, fulfilling the agreement for the protection of the earth, people and planets.”

Taking the participants on environmental monitoring tools, Cadmus Atake-Enade, said the devices were effective for mitigating the danger of fossil-fuel extraction in the local communities.

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He encouraged participants to monitor their environment through air, water and soil pollution, and biodiversity issues.

READ ALSO: NGO Inaugurates GBV Clubs In Bauchi Secondary Schools

Atake-Enade listed tools for monitoring the physical environment like pens, pencils, cameras and whistles, saying the need to document the findings or monitor the evidence cannot be over-emphasised.

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The training concluded with the reconciliation of the Traditional Community Council and Host Community Network operating in the community.

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